Board games and other similar toys have proven to be extremely successful and long-lasting products. As a result, a wide variety of board games exist in the marketplace. Many of these games typically involve moving one or more game pieces to various spaces on a playing surface. For example, in the game of Monopoly, a user can select from various different types of game pieces including a dog, car, iron, shoe, and other objects. These game pieces are advanced across the playing surface or game board by rolling a set of dice and moving the pieces a corresponding number of spaces. In other board games, game pieces are advanced across the playing surface by spinning a wheel with numerical values, answering certain questions with point values correctly, or some other method specified in the rules of the game.
Manufacturers are constantly seeking new and creative ways to entertain consumers with board games. Although many different types of board games and game pieces exist, very few of these game pieces are designed to do anything more than travel across the game's playing surface. New games and new forms of entertainment would be possible if game pieces were designed to achieve additional functions.